PlastiDip – Should I Use It?

PlastiDip – Should I Use It?

PlastiDip is a finishing product which is sold in aerosol cans, like spray paint. It was originally designed to be used on uncoated tool handles in order to make them easier to grip. Once applied to a surface, PlastiDip makes the surface matte and rubbery in appearance.

However, as with many innovative products, people are finding their own uses for PlastiDip. One of the most popular do-it-yourself projects PlastiDip aficionados have taken on is applying PlastiDip to alter the appearances of their cars. There are a number of websites and videos demonstrating how to PlastiDip (or, as many say, how to “dip”) your car at home, using only simple materials like painter’s tape.

While PlastiDip seems to be all the rage nowadays, is it really a good idea? Most reviewers on major online retailers seem to express satisfaction with the product – about 86% of reviewers on Amazon.com give PlastiDip 4 or 5 stars, with only 5% giving it 1 star. Many report that it’s a very easy project to take on, though you should purchase a bit more of the product than you think you should. Often, home detailing projects using PlastiDip only take a few hours.

Some say that it’s most useful as an inexpensive and easy way to temporarily take care of any aesthetic problems your car may have, such as chipped paint or nicks and scratches on the body. You can “dip” as little or as much of your car as you’d like – whether you just want to fix up the side-view mirrors, or whether you want to alter the whole body of your car, PlastiDip might be able to do the trick.

Perhaps more importantly, PlastiDip is usually a highly reversible treatment. Once applied, if you decide you don’t like the way it looks or feels, you can simply peel it off without doing much in the way of damage to your vehicle’s exterior.

However, like all do-it-yourself detailing projects, PlastiDip is not without its downsides. For one, most people at home do not have all of the equipment a full-featured auto shop uses to detail cars. While applying painter’s tape and using a spray-paint can to detail the car can work in some cases, a really professional exterior detailing job includes a number of protections and improvements that are hard to simulate at home, including a proper buffing and polishing as well as clay bar treatment.

Additionally, PlastiDip is only a good option if you’re going for a very particular look – namely, a matte, rubbery exterior. If you are, it’s worth looking into PlastiDip. However, much of the appeal of PlastiDip is that it looks so radically different from the appearances of most car bodies. Many of the relatively few negative reviews for PlastiDip seem to come from people who were expecting the product to make their cars appear glossier.

In short, if you’d like to try out a unique look on your car, or are looking for a temporary fix for aesthetic problems, PlastiDip might be the way to go. However, if you’re looking for a truly in-depth detailing job, a traditional detailing job, performed at a professional detailing shop like Chase Detailing, is probably your best bet. If you’re in the Norman, Edmond, Moore, or Oklahoma City area, why not contact Chase Detailing for a consultation or appointment today?